Tuff Luff?? Gold Luff more like..

[Neraida]

We have new sails on order (Yikes!), and in an effort to keep Claire dry(ish) and off the foredeck, we have been advised to go buy "Tuff Luff".
Simple really, for those of you that don't know, a plastic extrusion that clips on the the forestay with a couple of little bits of stainless steel on each end giving you a nice clean fast groove in which to rapidly hoist ones jib..

I have been to the website of the primary stockist and I am still in shock. Our sailmaker had warned us that it wasn't cheap (so, me thinks, "Bit of plastic for a boat, going to be something crazy like a couple of hundred sov's") but i do think £400 is abit steep. (YES... FOUR HUNDRED POUNDINGTONS!!!!!!)

Anyone got any better ideas?? or feels like donating a few quid to the James and Claire Centre for Sailing Crappyness??

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[Talbot]

For about that same price you can buy a plastimo jib reefing system that enables you to remove the reefing drum for racing, but still gives you the luff groove (some models actually have a twin luff groove. Then when you are cruising, you can revert to a roller reefed foresail!

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[Peppermint]

Re: Tuff Luck Claire

Still going to get foredeck irrigation then.



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[Twister_Ken]

The answer to a young lady\'s prayer

Neraida goes to the foredeck, Clare takes charge of the steering stick.

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[qsiv]

Is that all??
I must admit to being beaten about the mouth - but we had to have it for the new boat.

It is more usually found aboard the racing fraternity - and this perhaps explains the high price. It is supremely light, but against that it is perhaps a little fragile, and you do need to buy the specail prefeeder if you wont have a one person on the halyard and one feeding. You also need the bumper strips if you are going to use a spi pole, as contact between pole and foil will distort (=damage=replace) the foil. You also need to be VERY careful about the alignment of the halyard load at the head - many boats need the halyard re-aligned to ensure the forces are well aligned with the foil, as the small stainless clip at the top of the foil is not built to prevent large loads pulling the bolt rope out of the luff groove.

I would have thought that there might perhaps be a better price performance mix available. Having said all of that it is good kit, and clearly the standard setter in this area of the market.

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[Georgio]

just fitted one to my GK24 as the old foil was falling to bits. Cost 360ish including vat for the 1205-30 complete kit. very easy to fit (did it in about one hour) and it's a good idea to have a second pair of hands.

really impressed with performance so far. can't comment on the lifespan but if a replacement if required you can buy the extrusion only and re-use all the existing bits to keep the price down.

If you do go for the Tuff luff, make sure you measure the size of your bolt rope to get the correct extrusion.

hope this helps

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[Neraida]

Re: Tuff Luck Claire

He's only whinging because I have persuaded him to order a laminate jib and his arms have suddenly become much shorter/pockets longer. We're going to have to get it anyway. No more hank on sails please, my knees hate them.


Claire

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[tome]

Re: Tuff Luck Claire

<No more hank on sails please>

One minor consideration to think about. Hanks keep the luff of the sail under control when you lower it to the deck. With a foil, there is nothing to control the luff and the sail is free to go where it chooses, so be prepared for some additional wrestling on deck!

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[PeteMcK]

Re: Tuff Luck Claire

Yup. Much preferred hanks but was persuaded that I had to have Tuff Luff when I went to laminate. Pointing and speed transformed but since the guys up front are forever leaving the other halyards on the pulpit, I'm not sure it has that much to do with the cleaner entry.

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[yoda]

Don't be fooled by the name, they also break and being a one piece unit you can't replace a section as you might with some roller gears. At least with roller gear getting rid of the genoa when flying the kite is a piece of cake.

Yoda

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[james_heath]

apart from tuff luff and roller reefing systems are there any alternatives to piston hanks

 

[graham]

A wire luff rope and wire halyard winched in hard enough.This was a common method of yesteryear.